Twenty-three years ago, I was on an x-ray travel assignment in Anchorage, AK. Early that morning, I woke up and decided to go to the basement of my apartment complex to do some laundry. The apartment manager came down to collect some coins in the washers and dryers, and asked me "Could you believe what's happening to the World Trade Center ?"
(Note that the East Coast was FOUR hours ahead, so it had been a good couple of hours since the first plane had hit).
Being half awake and haven't turned on the TV or radio yet, I replied, “No".
She proceeded to tell me, and being somewhat skeptical and really not fully awake yet, I couldn't believe or even fathom what she was saying. "Why would someone fly a jet straight into the Twin Towers ? Why would people do such a terrible thing ??", I thought. It just didn't make any sense to me.
I gathered my clothes, folded them and made my way back to my room. As I flicked on the TV and proceeded to put away my clothes, the images on the television set stopped me on my tracks. I must have sat there glued in front of my TV with my clothes still on my lap for what seemed like hours, and just could NOT believe what I was seeing. The images seemed absolutely surreal, as though I was watching something not actually happening, but a disaster movie of some sort.
After seeing both towers crumble to the ground in massive, smoking heaps, and knowing that many lives were destroyed during those horrific moments, I just couldn't take it anymore. I turned off the TV, and while I was slowly putting away my clothes in the drawers and closet, I remember being numb. Then, various emotions came over me: I was angry that something this horrible was actually happening on our American soil, and was ready to rejoin my brothers-in-arms in the United States Army to even the score and bring justice to those who were responsible. At the same time, I was also extremely saddened by the fact that thousands of innocent lives were lost that day, and that the world as we know it was never going to ever be the same again.
I will always remember that fateful day, and hope that something like that will never happen again in my lifetime.
It seemed like it was just yesterday ……